I have a confession to make to you today: I am a bit of a compulsive weather watcher! Even just declaring it, I suddenly feel unburdened. I think it’s been a particularly dramatic week with the talk of ‘weather bombs’ and ‘thunder snow’. I know it’s the national obsession: we talk about it with strangers on the bus, frequently check our weather apps and hang on to every word that is uttered by those nice people who report the forecast to us on at least an hourly basis. There is a serious point to this light-hearted ‘confession’ and it’s this: there really are certain things in life over which we have no control, and most of what we worry about comes under that category. After all, if we had the means to rectify the worry then surely we would sort it, right?
In Matthew 6: 25-34, Jesus is wonderfully direct and pragmatic in communicating how trusting in God to supply our needs (remember ‘needs’ not ‘greeds’!) is the only true antidote to our worries. Yet the instruction Jesus communicates is not, ‘God please take away the worry,’ it is, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry…’ As I read this again, I realised that the Lord is saying that worry is something of a choice and essentially a matter of trust. The apostle Peter gives great advice on dealing with worries before they take root: ‘Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.’ (1 Peter 5:7)